US 69 - Yesterdays Folks 1969

US American psychedelic rock band, late 1960s, based in Connecticut. Originally they went under the name The Mustard Family for one single. Then they changed for US 69 for their sole effort, US 69 - Yesterdays Folks released in March 1969, which contains the two songs from the single. 

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Euphoria - Euphoria 1969

By 1965, the musical duo known collectively as Euphoria -- bassist William D. "Bill" Lincoln and Hamilton Wesley Watt -- had already been in several bands in the L.A. area, including the War Babies (their song "Jeanie's Pub" appears on numerous compilations, including Teenage Shutdown: You Better Get a Move On!), and a band called the Word (reputedly a Christian garage folk group whose lone single had a juvenile delinquent theme). By 1967, the duo had relocated to the Houston area, where they often played with the 13th Floor Elevators. Lincoln and Watt were soon back in Hollywood, where they joined a folk-rock band called Euphoria. The other members of the band included Detroit-born guitarist Doug Delain and drummer Dave Potter, a veteran of the Texas band Endle St. Cloud and the L.A.-based East Side Kids. Delain later left the group to form the short-lived Motorcycle Abilene with then-unknown Warren Zevon (he also recorded songs with Ken Forssi and Alban Pfisterer of the Elektra band Love), while Potter formed Potter-St. Cloud with some of his former bandmates. Lincoln and Watt, meanwhile, continued to use the name Euphoria for the release of their only single -- "Hungry Woman" b/w "No Me Tomorrow" -- released on Chicago's Mainstream label. Both sides also appeared the following year on A Pot of Flowers, a Mainstream various-artists compilation. By 1968, the duo had written songs for Potter's East Side Kids (led by Jimmy Greenspoon, later founder of Three Dog Night), which appeared on their Tiger and the Lamb album for UNI. Watt also played guitar and contributed two songs to Lee Michaels' Carnival of Life. In 1969, Lincoln and Watt recorded an ambitious album of their own, A Gift from Euphoria, for Capitol Records, which is today highly collectible among psych rock collectors. Around this same time, the duo produced a few songs on The Wheel, a fantastic solo album by Bernie Schwartz (aka Don Atello and Adrian Pride). Lincoln and Watt continued to work behind the scenes in the L.A. music biz, mostly as session players; Lincoln plays bass on Mel Taylor & the Dynamics' live album from 1973, while Watt, often associated on projects with producer Buzz Clifford, appears on former East Side Kids/Three Dog Night songwriter Daniel Moore's own self-titled 1971 album for Dunhill (Moore and Clifford were also in a short-lived band, Carp, that featured actor Gary Busey). Incidentally, former Euphoria guitarist Delain has led quite an interesting life. A self-proclaimed "secret transvestite since childhood," Delain had the first of many sex change operations in 1969, and in 1978, officially changed his name to Angela Lynn Douglas (type either name into a search engine and enjoy the wild ride). Drummer Dave Potter, along with Tommy Thompson (owner of Bido Lito's, a Hollywood club during the '60s), perished in the 1980 MGM Hotel fire in Las Vegas. In 1996, A Gift from Euphoria was reissued on CD by See for Miles. AMG.

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SRC - Milestones 1969

SRC's second album isn't radically different from their debut, but it certainly captures the group in more comfortable and energized form. Rather than go back into the studio, the members of SRC used their recording advance to build a recording setup in their rehearsal space, and on Milestones, the group seems more willing to push the songs in a harder and faster direction without losing touch with their psychedelic and progressive influences. Gary Quackenbush steps farther into the forefront with his lead guitar on Milestones, demonstrating why he was one of the most acclaimed soloists on the Detroit scene in the 1960s, and he bounces his lines off keyboard man Glenn Quackenbush and rhythm guitarist Steve Lyman with skill and fire. Scott Richardson's vocals are also in excellent form on this album, and he performs with greater passion and increased imagination on SRC's second effort, though he can't quite overcome some of the lesser material. And SRC were writing songs with a harder and more physical edge for Milestones, most notably "Checkmate" and "No Secret Destination," though if the album has a flaw, it's the presence of not one but two adaptations of the works of Edvard Grieg -- "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "The Angel Song," Some might argue that SRC was best off leaving this sort of thing to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but while the band can't quite rise above the material, they do sound far better and more comfortable performing Grieg than anyone would have a right to expect. If in many respects, Milestones was an experiment, it was a successful one, though it unfortunately didn't sell as well as the first album, leading to the first steps toward SRC's eventual breakup. AMG.

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Ache - De Homine Urbano 1971

Ache are a Danish progressive rock band that played a widely spaced and rather heavy, psychedelic variation of this style. Their last efforts tend to intricate pop rock with progressive elements. All members of Ache joined forces again as the session band Finn Olafsson Band on the 1983 album Vælg Selv. In 2019, they announced another comeback and a tour in 2020, which was postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic. Discogs.

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Soft Machine with Heavy Friends - BBC In Concert 1971

Recorded live at London's Paris Theatre on March 11, 1971, BBC in Concert 1971 captures Canterbury scene avant-garde jazz-rock icons Soft Machine augmented by prominent UK jazz guests, featuring a massive 30-minute improvisational medley and an introductory billing hosted by John Peel.

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Maggie & Terre Roche - Seductive Reasoning 1975

Seductive Reasoning is the debut album by the sibling folk duo Maggie and Terre Roche, released in 1975 on Columbia Records. It precedes their 1979 debut album as a trio, The Roches.

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Micah - I'm Only One Man 1971

"One of the truest examples of an early US prog obscurity, Micah was a progressive rock band that formed in Terre Haute, Indiana and existed for three years before becoming a mere footnote in history. This band featured Gary Taylor Ohlson (keyboards, Hammond organ, synthesizer), George Robert Wolff (drums, percussion), Martin "Marty" Horne (lead guitar), Gus Hernandez (bass) and Robert "Bob" Rowe (lead vocals).
The band only left behind this sole trace of its existence. I'm Only One Man appeared in 1971 with only a few private pressings. The original vinyl has become one of those highly desired collectibles however it has been re-released both on vinyl and CD on the Shadoks label in recent years. An interesting little musical specimen, there are really only two title tracks respectively with the added titling "Part I" and "Part II" however on the album itself it lists seven tracks with different titles. The entire album was only 30 minutes long but what an outstanding job these guys did!

This music is an excellent mix off 60s psychedelic rock with the classic Hammond organ sounds of Quatermass, Beggar's Opera, Cressida and even Deep Purple however the vocals are more in the soul category reminding of Steve Windwood and other bluesy singers from the late 60s. The energetic drive however is much more in the realms of the contemporary early 70s in the vein of Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and other heavier rock bands. Add the fuzz guitars, extraordinarily competent drumming wizardry and some bantering bass grooves and you got yourself an interesting specimen of underground prog here.
In many ways Micah sounded like a garage band at least in tone and timbre. There is an amateurish DIY vibe to the whole thing but brought to the next level with more than competent songwriting and exquisite instrumental interplay. While the two tracks are composed of myriad motifs, the entire album sort of connects in a continuous stream of consciousness. The segments are melodic and there is sort of a chorus / verse / bridge thing going on but the entire run features interesting connective instrumentals which lead back to a reprise of the vocal parts. It's all quite intelligently designed and while the main focus is on the melodic developments, the extended time allows some excellent soloing most pronounced on the organ but also from the guitar and drums.

This wasn't love at first listen. I'm not really fond of this vocal style and the organ sounds dated for 1971. This really evokes the 1968 timeline however some of the slower transitions remind me of The Move especially on "Shazam." More than anyone else though, Micah sounds like the American version of the UK's Cressida. The vocal range is similarly limited in range. The organs are the dominant instrumentation and the music exhibits a straightforward songwriting approach that has merely been augmented into crafting a longer stream of flow by adding jamming sections and off the wall twists and turns. It took a few listens but it finally sunk in how excellent this album really is. This is quite the undiscovered gem from the early US prog underground." Silly Puppy/ ProgArchives.

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Paul Butterfield's Better Days - Paul Butterfield's Better Days 1973

"We're the only band around that's playing rooted American music," Better Days vocalist and former folkie Geoff Muldaur told an interviewer when this album was first released in 1973, and with perhaps just a handful of exceptions he was right. The band's mix of various styles of blues, from rural (Robert Johnson), to cosmopolitan (Percy Mayfield), along with hints of New Orleans R&B, boogie woogie, and early rock and country, was tremendously out of step with the pop trends of its time.

These days, of course, there are many bands doing more or less the same thing (although rarely as well), but the fact that these guys couldn't have cared less about appearing trendy is one of the reasons why BETTER DAYS sounds timeless. Another reason, of course, is world class musicianship; Muldaur, Paul Butterfield, and stupendously stylish guitarist Amos Garrett in particular come across as both relaxed and passionate. Despite their essentially formalistic approach to music making, they never sound academic or sterile. BETTER DAYS is one of the great lost albums of the '70s. AMG.

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Alan Lorber Orchestra - The Lotus Palace 1967

A versatile and commercially successful composer, arranger, and producer, Alan Lorber has had a hand in thousands of recordings, ranging from pop (Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do," Mike Clifford's "Close to Cathy") to R&B (Chuck Jackson's "I Wake Up Crying," Jackie Wilson's "Baby Workout") to psychedelic rock (Ultimate Spinach, Orpheus). He was busiest throughout the 1960s and wasn't merely a hired hand. In 1964, for instance, he put together the Mugwumps, a group notable for having featured future members of the Mamas & the Papas and the Lovin' Spoonful. (Lorber produced the latter's first Top Ten single, "Do You Believe in Magic.") During the late '60s, he established and developed the Boston (or Bosstown) Sound, a marketing concept that morphed into a full-blown rock scene. He has also released many of his own recordings, beginning with 1967's The Lotus Palace -- an orchestral pyschedelic album, consisting mostly of pop covers, that incorporated Indian music -- and continuing through the early 2000s, with a prolific run of releases credited to Alan Lorber 21st Century Orchestra. In his breathtakingly overblown liner notes, Alan Lorber describes this album as "one of the earliest examples of classical Indian music/jazz fusion." He also mentions that the concept grew out of a 30-second commercial he created for Chemical Bank, which tells you all you need to know about the authenticity of the end result. It's a cheesy relic of the psychedelic age, a few originals sitting side by side with faux Indian restaurant versions of contemporary rock songs by the Beatles, Tim Hardin, and the Blues Project, as well as covers of "Up, Up and Away" and "The Look of Love." With the recent explosion of interest in sordid vintage easy listening experiments, this may finally find its audience, but it would be erroneous to pretend that it was the product of any great artistic inspiration. The Lotus Palace was reissued on CD -- with bonus cuts, of course -- in 1997. AMG.

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Tako - Tako 1978

Tako's history begins when the first lineup of the band Opus had broken up. Bassist Dusan Cucuz wanted to form a new band, so he gathered musicians who where fond of a more complex rock sound. After he met Djordje Llijin in the spring of 1975, they showed each other their compositions and concluded that the material would work well. They invited Sava Bojic and Milan Lolic and this become the first lineup of Tako (which literally means "this way"). After months of rehearsals and gigs, the band made their first recordings that were offered to several record companies with no success. In November 1975, they had the opportunity to share the stage with a lot of famous bands of Belgrade. This gave the band new opportunity to make new recordings. During 1976, Tako worked on new compositions and accumulated experience by playing live. Then the guitar player had to join the army and the drummer started to drink too much. So, a new guitarist (Miroslav Dukic) and a new drummer (Slobodan Felekatovic) joined the band. This lineup first appeared at a concert at Pinki hall in Zemun with some other pop/rock bands. Tako was completely different from the other bands and made a good impression on public and critics.
After a very good performance at the Belgrade Summer Festival at Dom Omladine (Youth Center), Tako played in front of an audience of 100,000 people at an open-air concert in Kosutnjak with other local bands. This appearance at the Youth Festival and in others, mainly in Subotica, brought the band their first LP contract with RTV Ljubljana and their material was recorded and mixed in 36 hours. In 1979, things were not good for the band. In the middle of preparing for the second LP, Llijin developed arthritis. After some discrepancies between Dukic and the rest of the band, he quit and formed his own group while the band tried to find a replacement. But it didn't last long and Dukic came back. The band was together again and new ideas and everyday rehearsals marked the next period. Disappointed with the approach and manners in the other studio, Tako decided to record a second LP in a private studio. In September 1980, the band signed with RTB and played gigs in Belgrade.
In the beginning of 1980, the band had a chance to take part in a big show as bands from Belgrade gave concerts in Zagreb and vice versa. Although they gave a memorable performance and got a good reaction from the public, Tako was almost ignored by the critics, who at the time turned their ideas to punk and new wave. This change, coupled with bandmembers' lifestyle changes, led to their last concert at the Philosophy College in Belgrade. Felekatovic went to the army; Dukic went to work as a producer and recording engineer; Llijin became a teacher, ethnologist in a museum, and a record engineer; and Cucuz supplied sound equipment for gigs in Belgrade.
After a proposal of reissue of both two albums from Thomas Werner, a collector and amateur of the '70s Yugoslavia rock scene, the band got the first master tapes (they already had the second). In 1997, Rock Symphony, a record label of prog rock in Brazil, reissued both albums. AMG.

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The Remains - The Remains 1966

Most 1960s garage rock obsessives collect singles rather than albums for a good reason: While plenty of snarling teenagers could come up with two decent songs at a stretch, a precious few seemed able to brainstorm a dozen tunes without reaching to the bottom of the barrel or resorting to covers of other people's hits. But there were exceptions to this rule, among them the Sonics, the Litter, and, especially, the Remains, who never enjoyed much success on the national charts but were fabled heroes in their home town of Boston. The Remains' 1966 album for Epic is a classic, packed with great songs from singer/guitarist Barry Tashian, bassist Vern Miller, and pianist Bill Briggs, and boasting exciting, fiery performances, and if the full firepower of their legendary live shows didn't always come through on tape, even the album's weakest moments made clear the Remains were tougher, smarter, and tighter than the vast majority of their competition. The Remains is mid-'60s American rock & roll at it's best, and you don't have to own any paisley clothing to enjoy it. [When Epic/Legacy reissued the album in 1991 (with the band's name augmented to Barry and the Remains), they added a handful of non-LP singles and unreleased tracks and gave the album a crisp digital remix, and against all odds, Epic actually improved a masterpiece. If the old analog version sounds harder and dirtier (a good thing for garage rock), the CD allows you to hear more of the details, and nearly every one of the 21 cuts on board is killer stuff (their cover of Don Covay's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" shows them beating the Rolling Stones at their own game, and after you've heard "Don't Look Back," you'll always wonder why it wasn't a Top Ten hit).] AMG.

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Tyburn Tall - Tyburn Tall 1972

Tyburn Tall originated from a 1960's German beat band called The Screamers, eventually changing style when becoming influenced by the likes of The Nice, Colosseum, and other bands that they toured with. Like Frumpy and Renaissance, they drew in a wide variety of complex classical and hard-rock influences into their music.
 

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Water - Damburst 1976

Dutch rock band active from 1974 to 1977. Damburst seems to be some sort of concept album about a struggle between man and nature. The band that made the album is named Water, and they include among their personnel ex-members of the old 60's proto-prog band Sandy Coast.Also, they include a harmonica player, unusual for a prog band. The gentle flute playing, churning string-synths and sustain-filled guitar-solos on tracks like "Sail away" remind me mostly of Camel.There are also some more mainstream rock pieces, but they aren't really offensive enough to make me skip them, though most of them aren't especially exciting or distinctive. The vocals are occasionally memorable, resembling Roger Daltrey on "Damburst II". 

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Houston Fearless - Houston Fearless 1969

Houston Fearless was an American hard rock and psychedelic band from Los Angeles, California, that released a self-titled debut album on Imperial Records in 1969. Known for a heavy, fuzzy sound comparable to Steppenwolf, the quartet released only one official album before disbanding.

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Streetmark - Nordland 1976

"Nordland" was a brillant debut record, the band had taken the time to play the compositions live and to work them out. The general musicianship is quite high; the only weak point, as often in German bands are the English vocals. In 1977 Streetmark released their second record "Eileen" with Wolfgang Riechmann, a solo recording artist, who had joined the band on vocals and keyboards. Tragically he was murdered in 1978, before the release of his solo record "Wunderbar". Sky re-released "Eileen" in 1979 with the new title "Wolfgang Riechmann and Streetmark" with one bonus track. Later on the record was renamed "Dreams". The third (fourth) record "Dry", entirely instrumental, was released in 1979. In 1981 Streetmark released their last record "Sky Racer", with Dorothea Raukes as the only founding member left. It is still an interesting record, but much more Pop-influenced. ProgArchives.

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Nova - Blink 1975

Italian prog-fusion band, formed out of the ashes of ex-Osanna split-off band Uno along with Corrado Rustici from Cervello. It is said that they were formed in London in 1975 and they stayed in the UK for a while. By the time of their second album only two original members remained: Elio d'Anna and Corrado Rustici, with new members Renato Rosset, Percy Jones and Narada Michael Walden turning them into a more international band, with the latter two then replaced by Barry Johnson and Ric Parnell. Genesis drummer Phil Collins also featured as guest percussionist on some releases.

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Ramasandiran Somusundaram - Skinny Woman 1974

Skinny Woman is the only solo album by Indian percussionist Ramasandrian Somusundaram, who was an active member of the Genoese prog rock scene. He worked with bands like Bambibanda E Melodie (founded by Italian prog rock pioneer Bambi Fossati after his trailblazing group Garybaldi disbanded), Maya, and the New Trolls. Originally released in 1974, the album features some of New Trolls' members – including Vittorio De Scalzi, Gianni Belleno, and Giorgio Usai – and can be regarded as a side project from the band. The result is an eclectic production that blends Indian sounds and influences with psychedelia, progressive rock, and funk.
 

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Freeport - Freeport 1970

This band from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in early 1968. They began their career under the name "Paper Sun and the Freeport Express." The band played late-'60s-style rock, performing in clubs and dance halls in and around Cleveland, where they enjoyed some popularity among local youth. After some time, Eric Janson left the band and was replaced by two guitarists: Dennis Stredney and Roger Lewis, who also parted ways with Lewis shortly afterward. With this lineup, and changing their name to "Freeport," they recorded their only LP in Miami for Mainstream Records. The band's frontman, vocalist and keyboardist Kevin Raleigh, played keyboards for the well-known Cleveland group "Michael Stanley Band" in the late 1970s and 1980s and co-wrote all of the band's hits (with Michael Stanley). In 1989, he released a solo album, "Delusions of Grandeur."

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Dzyan - Dzyan 1972

This album was the result of Dzyan Mach 1, convened solely as a studio project and not lasting beyond the production of this LP. The record is a conglomerate with many different styles from Zappa-esque jazz to King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator-styled prog rock, with bits of tape effects and some wild conga drums added in. From the minimalist synth drones that open "Emptiness" to the bouncy jazz rhythm of "Fohat's Work," to the monster bass riff and soaring guitar of the closer, "Back to Earth," the album offers a hodgepodge of unusual songs in unusual time signatures. The vocals at times, and even more so the lyrics, are drenched too deep in prog pretension, but at least there are some long instrumental passages to get lost in. The album is a flawed experiment, interesting in its own right, though not fully realized like the two albums that followed. The fact that this Dzyan sounded like an entirely different band is because it almost was. AMG

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Scope - Scope 1974

The progressive rock group Scope was founded in Zwolle, The Netherlands in 1971. The band was founded by Henk Zomer (drums) and Rik Elings (keyboards, flute) who knew each other from high school where they played together in a band called Strange Power. Under this name they recorded two singles in 1971, That's the way/Turn me loose and Tenderfoot/Spring. With the addition of Rens Nieuwland (guitar) and Erik Raayman (bass guitar) they became Scope. In the coming years they play a lot throughout The Netherlands and Germany. In 1974 they recorded their debut in Germany for Negram label. In 1975 Rob Franken (keyboards) joins the band, Raayman leaves the band and joins Medusa, and Elings switches to bass guitar. With this line up they record their second album, also in Germany. In 1976 drummer Zomer leaves the band and is replaced by Robert Vink for a short time. The next drummer is Roland Zeldenrust. In the same year they see a new bass player, Pablo Nahar. All these changes lead to end of the band in 1976. Their music is mainly set upon 70's jazz-rock / fusion standards, with reminiscences of Mahavishnu Orchestra, but it also drinks from the fountain of their contemporary Dutch Symphonic Prog peers, like Solution and Focus. In 1982, the group was revived by Rik, Henk, Theo de Jong (b, ex-Taurus) and a succession of guitar players. ProgArchives.

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Crystalaugur - Terranaut 1972

Interesting album by the obscure Native American band Crystalaugur recorded in Singapore between 1972 and 1973, as highschool project by 4 Americans in Singapore, that only has been sold to classmates, family and friends. orginally pressing a mere 200 copies for a private label (Warped Rec) and the ridiculously small pressing made the original album an unbelievable rarity.  The fuzz guitar and space rock vocals definitely put this LP in the psychedelic realm with an interesing primitive backdrop. A weird mix of Kaleidoscope / Velvet. Underground and eastern vibes with fuzz-guitar all over! Sorta prog-folk-garagy vibe, hypnotising and repetitive. A great psych rock fuzz album.

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Larry Saunders - Stranger 1976

Larry Saunders, aka The Prophet Of  Soul, is best remembered on the rare  soul scene for his Northern Soul, crossover classic, “On The Real Side”. It was originally recorded in 1974 at Soul Sound Studios, Englewood, New Jersey, for Joe and Sylvia Robinson’s All Platinum subsidiary Turbo. The song also saw a UK release in the same year on London Records. Soul man Saunders, son of Blues singer Johnny Ace, signed to All Platinum in ’73 and recorded a number demos, with in-house writer/producer Tommy Keith, including two unreleased numbers “Good Luck Charm” and the featured B side “Sweet Sweet Lady”. A rare, sought after, and pricey album “Larry Saunders – Stranger”, (+250.00 when market offered, and sells at such every time). Current market availibilty at this time presents soul/sweet soul collectors the opportunity to obtain the lost soul treasure lp, on cd. The album, released in the early 70s, on the small, obscure Soul International Records label was recorded at Muscle Shoals Studios during it’s glory years. Not a lot is known about the singer, there was a subsequent release “Larry Saunders & Others – Free Angela”, but Larry’s voice, style, and the production work at Muscles Shoals are what carried this lp to extremely sought after legacy! Thanks to FunkMySoul!

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Saint Steven - Saint Steven 1969

Saint Steven's only solo LP from 1969 is a pretty unique concept album kind of totality. The record is quite a short one and the material is very enjoyable psychedelic rock with some clear psych folk elements here and there. The recording is divided into two suites “Over The Hill” and “The Bastich”.

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The Main Ingredient - Bitter Sweet 1972

Bitter Sweet introduced new Main Ingredient member Cuba Gooding with a bang. Gooding added power to Tony Silvester's and Luther Simmons' mellow vocal blends. "Everybody Plays the Fool" paid immediate dividends, going all the way to number three Pop. A flute plays a catchy intro, the lyrics are accessible to all and Gooding's dynamic lead keeps you glued. A stuttering beat makes "You've Got to Take It" interesting; it's reminiscent of "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by the Magictones. Heavier-than-usual backing voices accent "No Tears," which finds Gooding as excitable as ever on a tune marred by over-orchestration. They do the pop favorite "Who Can I Turn To?" in traditional style, showcasing Gooding's powerful crooning. A good debut for Gooding, who surpassed late lead singer Don McPherson vocally but lacked his songwriting skills. AMG.

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New Dawn - There´s A New Dawn 1970

The New Dawn's "There's A New Dawn" has been hailed as one of the rarest and best psych albums to come out of the late 60s and early 70s. The band recorded and released their private press album "There's A New Dawn" in July of 1970. The songs were composed in the studio and were recorded late at night after gigs. Initially five hundred copies were pressed, but it's estimated that only around 200 may still exist. Their one chance at the big time came in 1971 when the ABC-Dunhill Records label expressed a serious interest in the demo of three of their new heavier sounding songs. Considering the success ABC-Dunhill had with Steppenwolf, these demo tracks (included on this collection) demonstrate what a great fit the band could have been for the label and gives us a glimpse into what might have been for The New Dawn. 

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Phantasia - Phantasia 1971

Reissue of US psychedelic ultra rarity recorded 1971/72. The original albums (a complete one and a one-sided) are legends for all psychedelic/garage collectors, only 25 copies pressed of each -- not many people have the pleasure of having seen a copy. The music is creeping slowly and sensitively in your mind, whether stoned or not φ it takes you wherever you want. Those are the complete sessions, 55mins in mastertape quality presented the first time to the public -- extremely informative booklet (20 sided), with outstanding artwork and colour photos.

One of the best Psychedelic albums, playing in the same league as Fraction, Music Emporium, Hunger, Mystic Siva, Damon. Later the band changed into Trizo 50! Here are the complete sessions in mastertaped quality with 20sided informating booklet, including outstanding artwork and photos! Thanks to Rockasreia!

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The Surprise Package - Free Up 1969

The Surprise Package was one of the top 60's Northwest contemporary psychedelic rock bands from the greater Seattle area. They were originally called the Viceroys, and had a Northwest instrumental hit called Granny's Pad. The band consisted of Greg Beck (guitar, vocals), Kim Eggers (lead vocals & Sax), Michael Rogers (piano, organ, bass, vocals) and Fred Zeufeldt (drums, vocals). In 1966 after doing some Dick Clark Where the Action Is tours and shows with their friends Paul Revere and the Raiders, they recorded some songs on Columbia Records, produced by Jerry Fuller. During a mixdown session, Lou Adler (the Mamas and Papas producer) suggested the name 'The Surprise Package' to replace the dated 'Viceroys' handle. They recorded four songs under Fuller's production: Eastside, Westside, Going Out of My Mind, The Merry Go Round, and The Other Me, written by Jimmy Griffin and Michael Z. Gordon in 1967. Unfortunately, Columbia apparently had too many artists to market, so The Surprise Package got very little promotion. In late 1967, Kim Eggers left the band and singer Rob Lowrey was hired to replace him. In 1968 they recorded an album called Free Up for Lee Hazlewood's LHI-label, which spun off two singles as well: the title track and their version of MacArthur Park in 1969. In 1970, Mike Rogers left the band, they then added Gene Hubbard on keys and became American Eagle.

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P.F. Sloan - Measure of Pleasure 1968

With famed Atlantic engineer Tom Dowd as producer, P.F. Sloan turned his sound in a bluesier, funkier direction on Measure of Pleasure. His songs were less lyrically direct, and less melodically pop-savvy than his earlier work on Dunhill. While it could be said that his singing was getting better than ever, especially on the upper register twists in songs like "New Design," the material simply wasn't as memorable, although it wasn't bad. On tunes like "How Can I Be Sure" (not the same as the Rascals' hit) and "And the Boundaries Inbetween" (one of the best tracks), there's a folk-rock-blues-jazz fusion reminiscent of Tim Hardin, amplified by the touches of vibrating guitar (which Hardin also used in his late-'60s arrangements). There's a much more distant similarity to the late-'60s country-folk-rock-blues mixture of Tony Joe White. It's not a bad album, and Sloan fans will find it worth picking up. It's just different than, and not on the same level as, his first two LPs. AMG.

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Images - Images 1977

The 1977 record named Images is a rare French progressive folk/rock album by the band Images, It's worth listening to.

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Flamin' Groovies - Supersnazz 1969

The Flamin' Groovies' debut album went almost directly into the cut-out bins within a year or so of its 1969 release. Fortunately, the band survived the neglect heaped on that record, and has survived in one form or another into the 21st century. And in the ensuing years, Supersnazz has achieved an exalted reputation among not just Groovies fans, but lovers of rock & roll in general, having held up extraordinarily well across the decades and still able to make its own case for greatness as an astonishing document of straight-ahead rock & roll circa 1969 -- fully contemporary to its time (and, by extension, almost timeless), with none of the artificial period nostalgia (and parodying) that was already creeping into the "oldies" scene. But it's also a lot of fun; in fact, based on the evidence, Supersnazz may well have been the most fun record of 1969. Roy Loney, Cyril Jordan, Tim Lynch, George Alexander, and Danny Mihm run through a quirky mix of Loney and Loney/Jordan originals and standards, encompassing styles from proto-'70s punk (want to bet the Ramones wore out copies of this album?) to '50s New Orleans R&B, country music, and even ragtime, and while a small bit of it is compromised by the presence of some too-prominent clarinet and saxophone, the whole record is a rollicking good time, made even better by the sequencing, which offers a full range of surprises, even on the fourth or fifth listen -- one can never settle in with this record before something weirdly wonderful comes along to draw the listener in yet another direction. From the fiery, Brian Jones-era Stones-style, fuzztone-driven opener "Love Have Mercy," the band shows what it can do in everything from straight-ahead boogie to slow ballads ("A Part from That") and '50s rockers ("The Girl Can't Help It," "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu"), country ("Brushfire"), and R&B, all done with a unique array of stylistic flourishes that made this one of the most original long-players of 1969. By the ninth track, the pounding, punk-driven "Somethin' Else/Pistol Packin' Mama," the whole album achieves a kind of otherworldly continuum, like something out of a strange and wonderful corner of the universe that -- though none knew it at the time -- pointed the way to a coming decade of achievement by the likes of the Ramones, Jonathan Richman, et al, not to mention the Groovies themselves. AMG.

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The Bob Seger System - Noah 1969

For reasons never entirely explained, Bob Seger suffered a bit of a breakdown shortly after Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, so he decided to bring Tom Neme, a guitarist/pianist, into the Bob Seger System to help lighten the load and share the burden. Thing is, Neme wound up taking over the band. It's hard to tell whether Seger endorsed his mutiny or if he was just so disinterested that he didn't put up a fight, but all the same, the second Seger album, Noah, is one strange affair. The band makes no secret of the change, stating on the back cover that "Seger will always be Bob Seger, (but) any change must come from the System and Tom Neme." So, the liner notes seem like a way to gloss over a real lack of leadership or a coup, depending on your point of view. This release holds together better than it would seem, but it's still an awkward album that's never sure where it wants to go. Ironically, Neme tries to replicate Seger's hard-driving rock songs several times throughout the album while Seger sounds more comfortable with the folky shuffle of the title track. Of course, he can still tear it up with "Innervenus Eyes," and he delves deeper into darkness than he ever has with the weirdly intense, claustrophobic closer, "Death Row." No matter how good these individual cuts may be -- and they're certainly worth the time of any devoted fan -- they still are isolated moments on the only album where he sounds tentative, confused, and disinterested. In other words, the only album where Seger doesn't seem like he'll always be Seger. AMG.

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